BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford Volleyball Team will take on The University of Louisville on Friday, Dec. 2 at 5:00 p.m. in Louisville, Ky. following the announcement of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship Bracket on Sunday evening.
 
Sunday's selection marks for the fourth time in five years that the Bulldogs have earned a spot in the NCAA Championship and fifth time in seven season under Head Coach Keylor Chan. Samford clinched an automatic bid by capturing the Southern Conference Volleyball Tournament Crown last Sunday with a 3-0 win over Furman in Greenville, S.C.
 
The Cardinals (26-2, 17-1 ACC) are one of four no. 1 national seeds in tournament. They clinched a share of the 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship with Pittsburg after posting a 17-1 record against ACC opponents this season. The Bulldogs recently faced the Cardinals in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 5 of the 2019 season, falling 3-0 in Bowling Green, Ky. 
 
(Louisville) are the one seed for a season," Head Coach Keylor Chan said. "They've beaten a lot of good teams and have a lot of experience on the floor. It's about the tournament now. It's about knowing that you've earned the right to play in this event and being our best when it's mattered most. We'll go in, prepare, and put our best foot forward."
 
New for this year, the top 32 teams are seeded nationally in pods of four and placed within four regions. Per the established bracketing principles, the top seeds are provided the opportunity to host. Additionally, team pairings are determined within the pods (ones paired with eights, twos paired with sevens, threes paired with sixes and fours paired with fives) and assigned geographically within their pods, with the exception that teams from the same conference are not paired during the first- and second-rounds.
 
First- and second-round matches will be played December 1-3 at 16 campus sites. Teams winning both matches will continue to regional play December 8 & 10. Regionals for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at four non-predetermined campus sites, which will be announced on December 4. At each site, four teams will compete in single-elimination regional semifinal competition.
 
The regional winners will advance to the national semifinals and championship final hosted by Nebraska in conjunction with the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA), December 15-17 at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The national semifinal matches will broadcast on ESPN, and the championship match will broadcast on ESPN2. All preliminary site match times can be found on the attached championship bracket or online at www.ncaa.com/volleyball.